Pope Francis

[grace-land]

http://www.news.va/en/news/pope-do-not-resist-the-grace-of-conversion

Pope: "do not resist the grace of conversion"
2016-12-01 Vatican Radio

(Vatican Radio) Pope Francis on Thursday encouraged the faithful to ask the Lord for help whenever they feel they may be resisting his grace.

The Pope was speaking during his homily at morning Mass in Casa Santa Marta.

Finding inspiration in the opening prayer of the day “May Your grace conquer the obstacles caused by our sins”, Pope Francis said each of us have obstacles in our hearts which resist God’s grace.

He warned in particular against various types of obstacles [it. resistenze]:

The ones  he called  ‘open obstacles’  that are born of good faith – like in Saul’s case when he resisted grace but was ‘convinced he was doing God’s will' before he was converted by Jesus.

“Open obstacles are healthy” - the Pope said – “in the sense that they are open to the grace of conversion”.

The most ‘dangerous’ obstacles according to Francis are the hidden ones because they do not show themselves. Each of us, he said, have our own way of resisting grace but we must recognize it and allow the Lord to purify us. It’s the type of obstacle that Stephen accused the Doctors of Law of concealing whilst they wanted to appear as though they were in search of the glory of God. An accusation – the Pope said – that cost Stephen his life:   
     
 "We all have hidden obstacles; we must ask ourselves what is their nature. They always surface to stop a process of conversion. Always!”
 

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http://www.apostleshipofprayer.org/2016-intentions/

THE POPE'S PRAYER INTENTIONS FOR 2016
ENTRUSTED TO THE APOSTLESHIP OF PRAYER
 
December

Universal: End to Child-Soldiers
That the scandal of child-soldiers may be eliminated the world over.

Evangelization: Europe
That the peoples of Europe may rediscover the beauty, goodness, and truth of the Gospel which gives joy and hope to life.

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https://www.lifesitenews.com/news/the-vaticans-doctrine-chief-responds-to-four-cardinals-dubia

Thu Dec 1, 2016 - 2:06 pm EST
Vatican’s doctrine chief responds to four Cardinals’ dubia

December 1, 2016 (LifeSiteNews) – The Church’s highest authority on doctrinal matters besides the pope, Cardinal Gerhard Ludwig Müller, says his Congregation will not answer the four Cardinals who have formulated their doubts (dubia) regarding Amoris Laetitia until further notice.

The Prefect of the Congregation for the Doctrine of Faith explained in an interview with Kathpress on Thursday that his congregation “acts and speaks” with the authority of the Pope and cannot take part “in a difference of opinion.”

The Prefect sees the danger of a “polarization” between camps in the Church. Müller explains that the letter with the five dubia had been written to the Pope directly – before its publication – and Pope Francis could still give the CDF the commission to resolve the tension. The CDF is in charge of all matters regarding the faith in the Catholic Church and is highest authority therein.
 
“At the moment it is important for each one of us to stay focused and objective and not to be driven into polemics, much less create them,” Müller goes on. Regarding the passages of Amoris Laetitia that created confusion he does not comment. Instead he points out that documents cannot be interpreted in a way that refutes previous teachings of the Popes or of the Congregation for the Doctrine of Faith.
 

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http://www.news.va/en/news/papal-preacher-gives-first-advent-sermon-to-pope-a

Papal preacher gives first Advent Sermon to Pope and Curia
2016-12-02 Vatican Radio

(Vatican Radio) Papal preacher Father Raniero Cantalamessa on Friday offered his first Advent Sermon  to  Pope Francis, focusing on the Holy Spirit’s action in the Church.

As preacher to the Papal Household, Capucin Father Cantalamessa gives a meditation to the Pope, Cardinals and members of the Roman Curia every Friday morning in Lent and Advent in the Apostolic Palace’s “Redemptoris Mater” Chapel.

Father Cantalamessa was named papal preacher by St. John Paul II in 1980, and was confirmed by both by Benedict XVI and by Pope Francis.

Please find below the full text of the Reflection translated by Marsha Daigle Williamson:
 

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http://www.news.va/en/news/pope-francis-receives-president-of-uruguay

Pope Francis receives President of Uruguay
2016-12-02 Vatican Radio

(Vatican Radio) Pope Francis received the President of the Eastern Republic of Uruguay, Tabaré Ramón Vázquez Rosas, in a private audience on Friday.

A communiqué from the Holy See Press Office said the Pope and the President held cordial discussions, in which they evoked the historical ties between the Holy See and Uruguay, and their “common interests for the integral development of the human person, respect for human rights, and social peace”.
 

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http://www.catholicnewsagency.com/news/pope-francis-meets-us-secretary-of-state-john-kerry-at-the-vatican-79534/

Pope Francis meets U.S. Secretary of State John Kerry at the Vatican

Vatican City, Dec 2, 2016 / 07:58 am (CNA/EWTN News).- While he was in town for a global meeting on the crisis in the Mediterranean region, U.S. Secretary of State John Kerry stopped by the Vatican for a meeting with Pope Francis that likely centered largely on the challenges of migration.

Kerry is currently in Rome for the three-day “Rome Med – Mediterranean Dialogues” meeting, which this year runs Dec. 1-3. The second annual event is a high-level initiative of the Italian Ministry of Foreign Affairs and International Cooperation, as well as the Italian Institute for International Political Studies (ISPI).

The main purpose of the gathering is to draft a “positive agenda” for the Mediterranean region given the current challenges by coming up with new ideas and rethinking traditional approaches at both the local and international levels.
 
The last time Kerry visited the Vatican was Jan. 14, 2014, ahead of the Pope’s trip to the United States. He had been on an international diplomatic tour to promote an Israeli-Palestinian peace accord and was also working for the success of the Geneva 2 Conference for peace in Syria.

Kerry’s meeting with Francis at the time focused largely on the Middle East, the Syrian conflict, the Sudan situation and religious freedom issues in the U.S.

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http://www.news.va/en/news/pope-approves-decrees-for-causes-for-canonization

Pope approves decrees for causes for canonization
2016-12-02 Vatican Radio

(Vatican Radio) On 1 December, the Holy Father Pope Francis received in audience Cardinal Angelo Amato, S.D.B., Prefect of the Congregation for the Causes of Saints.

In the course of the audience, the Supreme Pontiff authorized the Congregation to promulgate decrees regarding several causes for canonization. The martyrdom of Father Stanley Rother, an American priest killed in Guatemala our of "hatred for the faith," was officially recognized; as was the heroic virtue of Mother Catherine Aurelia of the Precious Blood, the foundress of the Sisters Adorers of the Precious Blood, which was the first contemplative community founded in Canada.

Below, please find the full list of decrees whose promulgation was authorized by Pope Francis:
 
http://www.catholicnews.com/services/englishnews/2016/pope-recognizes-martyrdom-of-oklahoma-priest-killed-in-guatemala.cfm
Pope recognizes martyrdom of Oklahoma priest killed in Guatemala
By Catholic News Service
12.2.2016 2:35 PM ET

CNS

http://www.catholicnewsagency.com/news/fr-stanley-rother-the-first-us-born-martyr-67945/
Father Stanley Rother: The first US-born martyr

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http://www.news.va/en/news/angelus-the-kingdom-of-heaven-is-the-love-and-humi

Angelus: The Kingdom of heaven is the love and humility of God
2016-12-04 Vatican Radio

(Vatican Radio) “The Kingdom of God is at hand and is indeed in the middle of us, this is the central message of all Christian mission.” Those were the words of Pope Francis during his Angelus address in St Peter’s Square on the Second Sunday of Advent.

He was referring to the Gospel reading of the day in which John the Baptist issues the invitation to "Repent, for the kingdom of heaven is at hand".

The Holy Father explained that with these same words Jesus will start his mission in Galilee and it is an announcement that will “bring the disciples on their first missionary experience.”

The kingdom of heaven, said the Pope, is not just a place in the afterlife, but it is the good news that Jesus brings us.

God, Pope Francis continued, “comes to establish his dominion in our history, in our everyday life;” and where it is accepted with faith and humility and love.

But the “condition to become part of this kingdom”, the Holy Father stressed, “ is to make a change in our life, that is to repent.”
 
https://zenit.org/articles/angelus-address-on-converting-ourselves/
Angelus Address: On Converting Ourselves 
December 4, 2016

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http://www.news.va/en/news/pope-jesus-brings-true-change-renewing-the-heart

Pope: Jesus brings true change, renewing the heart
2016-12-05 Vatican Radio

(Vatican Radio) Let us allow ourselves to be transformed by Christ; let us allow ourselves to be able to be re-created, freeing us from our sins. That was the message of Pope Francis at the morning Mass at Casa Santa Marta, centred on the theme of the renewal that the Lord brings. The Pope put us on guard about painting over our sins without truly being ashamed in our hearts. Only by calling sins by their name, he said, will we be able to allow God to make us new women and men.

The desert will bloom, the blind will see, the deaf will hear. The first reading, from the Prophet Isaiah, speaks to us about renewal, the Pope said. Everything will be changed, from ugly to beautiful, from wicked to good.” A change for the better: this, he said, is what the People of Israel were expecting from the Messiah.

The change that Jesus brings is not simply make-up

Turning then to the Gospel of the day, Pope Francis noted that Jesus went about healing people, helping them “to see a path of change” and this is why they followed Him. They didn’t follow Jesus because He was some sort of novelty; “they followed Him because the message of Jesus touched their hearts.” And “the people saw that Jesus healed, and they followed Him” for that reason as well:
 

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http://www.news.va/en/news/pope-gods-tenderness-is-our-salvation

Pope: "God's tenderness is our salvation"
2016-12-06 Vatican Radio

(Vatican Radio)  He who does not know the tenderness of God does not know the Christian doctrine.  This was the concept at the core of Pope Francis’ homily at morning Mass at the Casa Santa Marta, a homily focused largely on the figure of Judas.

Judas, an evangelical image of the lost sheep

Taking his cue from the Gospel reading of the day which recounts the Parable of the lost sheep, Pope Francis spoke of how the Lord never stops looking for us.

Describing the Lord as a kind of a judge, a judge who caresses and is full of tenderness, he said God does everything to save us.

“He does not come to condemn, but to save” the Pope said, and he loves each and every one of us personally. He knows us by name and loves us for what we are.
 

[grace-land]

http://www.news.va/en/news/vatican-nuclear-deterrence-must-be-replaced-by-new

Vatican: Nuclear deterrence "must be replaced" by new global ethic
2016-12-06 Vatican Radio

(Vatican Radio) The Vatican on Tuesday said the “logic of fear and mistrust that is epitomized by nuclear deterrence must be replaced with a new global ethic” during a meeting of the International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA).

“The promotion of nuclear security – preventing, detecting and responding to criminal or intentional unauthorized acts involving, or directed at, nuclear material, other radioactive material, associated facilities or associated activities – is of significant importance to the Holy See, said Msgr. Antoine Camilleri, Undersecretary for Relations with States.

The IAEA is holding the “International Conference on Nuclear Security: Commitments and Actions” in Vienna this week.

The full statement is below
 

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http://www.news.va/en/news/pope-francis-in-advent-it-is-important-to-reflect

Pope Francis: In Advent, it is important to reflect on hope
2016-12-07 Vatican Radio

(Vatican Radio) At his General Audience on Wednesday, Pope Francis began a new series of catecheses on “Christian Hope”.

In our times, which seem so dark, the Pope said we often feel “lost in the face of the wickedness and the violence that surround us.” We may even feel “discouraged, because we feel powerless, and it seems the darkness might never end.”

But we should never give up hope, he continued, “because God, with His love, journeys with us, He does not leave us alone, and the Lord Jesus has overcome evil, and opened up the path of life.”

It is important to reflect on hope during this season of Advent, when we prepare for the coming of Christ at Christmas. Pope Francis based his reflection primarily on a passage from Isaiah, in which God tells the prophet, first, to console his people, and then to “make straight the path of the Lord.”
 
https://zenit.org/articles/general-audience-on-christian-hope/
GENERAL AUDIENCE: On Christian Hope 
December 7, 2016

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=dTrL0pGX5hI
General Audience

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http://www.catholicnewsagency.com/news/vaticans-anti-abuse-commission-launches-new-website-62663/

Vatican's anti-abuse commission launches new website

Vatican City, Dec 6, 2016 / 06:16 am (CNA/EWTN News).- The Pontifical Commission for the Protection of Minors launched a new website Tuesday, which is designed to help inform the public about their work, and includes resources for Church leaders on safeguarding children and caring for survivors.

Announced by the Vatican Dec. 6, and coinciding with the feast of St. Nicholas, the patron saint of children, the website is considered to be in the “beta” stage and is still undergoing development.

However, the website already includes information on the history, mission and members of the Commission, practical resources and Church documents on the topic of abuse, as well as past and upcoming programs of the commission, and news about their current work.
 
The website is currently only available in English, but will eventually be expanded to include Spanish, Italian, Portuguese and French language versions.

Link to new website:  http://www.protectionofminors.va/content/tuteladeiminori/en.html
 

[grace-land]

http://www.news.va/en/news/vatican-approves-first-ever-womens-association

Vatican approves first-ever women’s association
2016-12-07 Vatican Radio

(Vatican Radio) For the very first time, the Vatican has approved an association dedicated to its women employees. Donne in Vaticano (D.VA) or Women in the Vatican is open to lay and religious female employees and retirees of Vatican City State, the Holy See and its related institutions.  Its establishment is unprecedented in the history of the small state. According to a press release issued by the Holy See Press office, the twelve founding members of the newly formed Association formally signed the Act of Constitution, approved by the competent authorities, on 1 September 2016 at Vatican City’s Governorate.

Its membership now open to the some 750 women employees of the Vatican and to the many in retirement, D.VA intends to create a network of friendship, exchange and solidarity for the personal and professional growth of its members. President Tracey McClure, a senior journalist at Vatican Radio, says the Association was founded upon the belief “that women are a rich resource to be valued in the workplace and in all areas of life and activity inside the Vatican.  And, we are encouraged by Pope Francis who has been particularly sensitive to the voices of women in the Church.”
 

[grace-land]

http://www.catholicnewsagency.com/news/new-seminary-doc-talks-clericalism-homosexuality-abuse-prevention-66223/

New seminary doc talks clericalism, homosexuality, abuse prevention

Vatican City, Dec 7, 2016 / 12:37 pm (CNA/EWTN News).- The updated version of the Vatican's document on priestly formation, released Wednesday, deals with issues of clericalism, homosexuality, and the protection of minors, among other things.

“To be a good priest, in addition to having passed all the exams, a demonstrated human, spiritual and pastoral maturation is necessary,” Cardinal Beniamino Stella, prefect of the Congregation for the Clergy, told L'Osservatore Romano Dec. 7. He was commenting on The Gift of the Priestly Vocation, his department's new edition of its “fundamentals of priestly formation.”

“I think it is superfluous to add that other minor innovations could be gathered from the text, from the standpoint of approaches to the question, vocabulary used, the formative methodology proposed, and the impulse given by the current Pontifical Magisterium,” Cardinal Stella added.

Media coverage of the document has emphasized that it reaffirms the existing Vatican instruction that homosexuals may not be admitted to seminaries.
 

[grace-land]

http://www.catholicnewsagency.com/news/in-new-interview-pope-skewers-journalists-who-focus-on-scandal-93365/

In new interview, Pope skewers journalists who focus on scandal

Vatican City, Dec 7, 2016 / 09:49 am (CNA/EWTN News).- Pope Francis gave an interview to a Belgian magazine in which he cautioned media to avoid several major temptations, including the desire to always focus on scandal – which he compared to “coprophilia,” a mental illness in which a person has an abnormal interest in feces.

“Media I think have to be very clean, very clean and very transparent. And not fall – without offending, please – into the sickness of coprophilia,” the Pope said in his new interview, published Dec. 7.

Coprophilia, or coprophagy, is technically defined as a condition in which a person has an abnormal interest and pleasure in feces or excrement.
 
However, for Pope Francis, his use of the word referred to an attitude in journalism that always tries to communicate scandal. 

Since people looking to the media frequently have “a tendency toward coprophilia” – meaning they take pleasure in and seek out scandalous news – this attitude “can do a lot of damage.”

Pope Francis made his comments to Belgian weekly magazine “Tertio” for the occasion of the close of the Extraordinary Jubilee of Mercy. The editor of the publication, Geert de Kerpel, conducted the interview, which focused on a wide range of topics from the media and the Synod of Bishops, to religion in the public sphere and war.
 

Full text of the interview--in English
http://press.vatican.va/content/salastampa/en/bollettino/pubblico/2016/12/07/161207a.html
Interview with the Holy Father Francis for the Belgian Catholic weekly, “Tertio”, 07.12.2016

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http://www.news.va/en/news/pope-francis-on-immaculate-conception-god-awaits-o

Pope Francis on Immaculate Conception: God awaits our 'yes'
2016-12-08 Vatican Radio

(Vatican Radio) Pope Francis on Thursday encouraged Christians to give their “Yes” to God, which allows the Lord to create for us a “new story,” as opposed to sin, which makes us “old inside.”

The Holy Father was speaking to a crowd of pilgrims in St. Peter's Square before the Angelus on the Solemnity of the Immaculate Conception.

Pope Francis reflected on two of the readings from the feast’s liturgy: The Fall of Adam and Eve [Gn 3:9-15, 20], and the Annunciation [Lk 1:26-38].

“The readings of the Solemnity of the Immaculate Conception of the Blessed Virgin Mary are two crucial passages in the history of the relationship between man and God:  We might say they lead us to the origins of good and evil,” Pope Francis said.

The Holy Father said the Book of Genesis shows us the origins of sin, the first 'no' to God, when “man preferred to look at himself, not his Creator…and in doing so comes out of communion with God.”

“This makes sin,” – Pope Francis said – “But the Lord does not leave man at the mercy of his evil; He immediately seeks him out and asks a question full of apprehension: 'Where are you?' It is the question of a father or a mother searching for a lost child…and this God does with much patience, in order to bridge the distance which arose at the beginning.”

The Holy Father then turned his attention to the Gospel reading, when “God comes to dwell among us, [and] he becomes man like us.”
 
https://zenit.org/articles/angelus-on-the-feast-of-the-immaculate-conception/
ANGELUS: On the Feast of the Immaculate Conception 
December 8, 2016

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=I0bohMAoXw8
2016.12.08 Angelus Domini 

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http://www.news.va/en/news/pope-francis-greets-members-of-catholic-action

Pope Francis greets members of Catholic Action
2016-12-08 Vatican Radio

(Vatican Radio) Pope Francis on Thursday gave a special greeting to the members of Catholic Action, who on the feast of the Immaculate Conception renew their membership in the organization.

Catholic Action was founded in Italy in 1905, and is one of the main lay apostolates in the country.

“I give a special thought to all the [Catholic Action] diocesan and parish associations,” – Pope Francis said during his Angelus – “May the Virgin bless Catholic Action and make it more and more a school of holiness and generous service to the Church and to the world.”
 

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http://www.news.va/en/news/pope-makes-traditional-visit-to-immaculate-concept

Pope makes traditional visit to Immaculate Conception statue in Rome
2016-12-08 Vatican Radio

(Vatican Radio) Pope Francis visited the Piazza di Spagna in Rome on Thursday for the celebration of the Solemnity of the Immaculate Conception, where he laid a bouquet of white roses near the Column of the Immaculate Conception and prayed especially for families and for workers.

The Holy Father made his way to Rome’s Spanish Square to pay homage to the Immaculate Virgin, just as the Bishop of Rome has done annually for the past 50 years.

Flanked by Rome’s mayor, Pope Francis placed a bouquet of white roses at the base of the Column of the Immaculate Conception and led those present in a prayer for her feast day.

He prayed especially for abandoned children, for families struggling to make ends meet, and for men and women in search of work.

He said, “We have need of your immaculate heart, to love freely, without secondary aims but seeking the good of the other, with simplicity and sincerity, renouncing masks and tricks.”

Above all, the Holy Father prayed Our Lady to “Let us not give in to discouragement, but that, trusting in your constant help, we may engage ourselves fully in renewal of self, of this city and of the entire world.”

After the prayer, the Pope greeted many of those gathered in the square and blessed the sick and elderly.

He then made a short stop at the Basilica of St. Mary Major’s, before returning to the Vatican, to pray silently before the Maria Salus Populi Romani image, the protectress of the people of Rome.

A Vatican Radio English translation of the Pope's prayer is below:
 

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=LYW300sQ5GM
2016.12.08 Homage to the Statue of the Immaculate Conception 

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December 8, 2016 Tweets
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Catholic News Svc Retweeted
Cindy Wooden ‏@Cindy_Wooden  · 9h  9 hours ago 
#PopeFrancis is at the Spanish Steps in the center of Rome paying homage to Mary's Immaculate Conception.